Zoo Resource Conservation & Recycling

Zoo Resource Conservation & Recycling

As a conservation organization, we work hard to save wild things in wild places in Missouri and around the globe. The Saint Louis Zoo has also focused on protecting the environment through a range of waste reduction and energy and water conservation initiatives on our campus.

The Zoo recognizes that reducing water, energy, and material resources in our own operations is critical to our conservation mission as is educating our visitors about things they can do to reduce their impact.

In 2014, the Zoo was honored with the Award of Merit from the St. Louis Regional Chamber of Commerce’s Saint Louis Green Business Challenge and with the U.S.Green Building Council Missouri Gateway Chapter Growing Green Award for Operational Excellence. The Zoo was also awarded first place for its solar system by the St. Louis American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Chapter. The ASHRAE Technology Award contest recognizes energy efficient, green design.

That solar installation was placed on the rooftop of its Safari Gift Shop in 2013. This installation includes a real-time look at the amount of generation the solar panels provide. You can track this at this site or from a digital display at the South Arrival Experience bridge leading into the Zoo!

The Zoo also reuses and recycles construction and demolition materials.

Recycling Result

The Saint Louis Zoo diverted over half of its total waste (51%) from landfills in 2014. This initiative included recycling over 112 tons of cardboard, nearly 28 tons of mixed paper, nearly 60,000 pounds of scrap metal and over 2.5 tons of plastics. The Zoo also recycles all light bulbs, batteries, cooking oil, motor oil, electronics, holiday lights and construction waste. The Zoo sends approximately 2.3 million pounds of animal waste, bedding and landscape material to composting each year.

In 2014, the Zoo added restaurant food scraps to this total with a new food composting program!

In clearing the former 13.5-acre Forest Park Hospital site acquired in 2012, the Zoo diverted 95% of all construction waste for reuse, avoiding the greenhouse gas emissions that would have resulted from transporting these wastes.

Why the Zoo Recycles

Making paper products from recycled paper creates 74% less air pollution and uses 64% less energy than making paper from virgin wood pulp.

Making aluminum cans from recycled materials produces 95% less air and water pollution than making cans from raw materials.

Saves natural resources

Recycling a ton of glass means saving more than a ton of soda ash, limestone, sand and feldspar.

Recycling aluminum reduces the need to mine for bauxite, the ore used to make virgin aluminum.

Saves energy

Recycling a ton of paper saves 4,100 kilowatt-hours of electricity, enough to heat a home for six months.

Recycling a ton of aluminum saves the same amount of electricity a home uses in 10 years.

Animal connection

Global warming threatens up to one million plant and animal species -- including polar bears, coral reefs and whales.

Bauxite mining often occurs in ecologically sensitive areas and can harm animal and plant life.

Production of petrochemicals and coal results in greenhouse gases and pollutants that harm wildlife.

Going Green in Food Service

Eco-friendly products

In February 2015, the Zoo was recognized for reducing the environmental impact of its newly renovated restaurant, Cafe Kudu,earning a four-star rating from the Green Dining Alliance (http://www.greendiningalliance.org).

In 2014, at that restaurant and other Zoo food service outlets, the Zoo worked with Saint Louis Composting to divert over 40,000 pounds of food waste from the landfill by composting the waste.

The Zoo has aggressively promoted the use of the re-usable "sipper" cup, tripling the sale of the cups in nine years. The refillable sipper program reduced the use of thousands of paper cups each season. The Zoo encouraged guests to bring their sipper cups back with them each time they visited the Zoo.

The Zoo is also encouraging visitors to bring reusable water bottles or to purchase one of the many that it has available in its gift shops to reduce the use of disposable bottles. In addition to the many drinking fountains on campus, the Zoo has installed several water refilling stations for convenient refilling.

Conserving Resources

Here are only some of the Zoo's efforts to conserve:

Fuel

The Zoo changed many of its gasoline-powered vehicles to electric vehicles to avoid using higher-cost fossil fuels, reduce harmful substances released into the atmosphere and save money.

Heating, Air Conditioning, Lighting

The Zoo has installed new heating, ventilation and air conditioning system on the roof of the Herpetarium, where glass block windows in the crocodile exhibit save energy by creating a less drafty seal on the windows and allowing sunlight to filter through.

The Zoo has replaced outdated lighting with energy efficient lighting in the following areas: the pathway from central walk to The Living World, the Emerson Children's Zoo, the Administration Building, the employee training trailer, The Living World, Red Rock barns, the Distribution Services building, the Primate House; and the Birdhouse Basement.

Over the past five years, the Zoo's multiple lighting retrofits, upgrades of heating/ventilation and air condition systems and installation of energy management system controls has allowed it to avoid more than $1.6 million in costs.

Since 2009, the Zoo has reduced annual electricity use by 1.7 million kilowahtthours through lighting retrofits alone. This is enough electricity to power 284 homes per year!

Water and Horticulture

An extensive energy audit led to the installation of point-of-use water meters to identify opportunities to reduce water--in 2013, water consumption was reduced by 15.5 million gallons from 2012 consumption. Installed in 2012, Sea Lion Sound's massive underground, highly automated Life Support System facility helps the Zoo save 11 million gallons of water annually. Other savings came from replacing leaking valves and installing variable frequency drives on pump moters at Penguin & Puffin Coast and the Hippo exhibit to reclaim water.

New aeration systems were installed at the Zoo's cove and lakes area to improve water quality and reduce water consumption.

Eco-Friendly Gift Shops

The Zoo's new greeting cards found in the Zootique gift shop are eco-friendly. These earth-friendly cards are made from 50 percent recycled paper. The envelopes are produced with mixed eco paper and printed with soy-based ink. This line of cards is considered the most sustainable on the market.

The Safari gift shop relampled all fixtures with energy efficient LED lighting. The fixtures were fabricated using sustainable, recycled or green materialsmost of which can to be recycled at the end of their useful life.

The Zoo's Treetop Shop recycles all soft plastics used in packaging merchandize.

The Zoo is working with suppliers to avoid purchasing shipping and packing goods from companies that are destroying rain forests in creating paper and pulp products. The Zoo is supporting vendors who are working to reduce their carbon footprint and making strides in following "green" practices.

Education Department Programs

The Education Department's Exploration Outpost classroom is LEED silver certified. (LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, provides building owners and operators with a framework for identifying and implementing practical and measurable green building design, construction, operations and maintenance solutions.)

A Ford Escape Hybrid-Electric vehicle is used for outreach programs.

All classrooms and office areas in The Living World, at Exploration Outpost and in the Primate House have recycling bins.

Cell Phone Recycling

With a simple donation of your cell phone, you can help animals and the environment. The St. Louis chapter of American Association of Zoo Keepers will collect unwanted cell phones and cell phone accessories at the Zoo and earn funds for conservation efforts around the world.

Cell phones can be donated at the Welcome Desk at the North and South Entrances, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. daily, or mailed to Saint Louis Zoo, One Government Drive, St. Louis, MO 63110.

Recycling Rain

You may notice a few large rain barrels in various locations on Zoo grounds. These barrels help the Zoo to conserve the water that flows off the roof of buildings when it rains. The rain collected is used to water the beautiful flowers and plants that you see around the Zoo. This helps to conserve both water and money. Consider a rain barrel for your home!